Download from

• OpenCPN User Manual App by David Register from Google Playstore. It has an embedded eBook reader.
• OpenCPN Android App by David Register from Google Playstore.
• OpenCPN Android Website and Forum Special Android Forum.

Any special instructions for cell phone installations?

Installs on a Tab 2, Note 3, and a Note 4. Find Google Play store on your Android, search “OpenCPN by David Register”. There are two versions that will appear, we suggest that you select the one by David Register because it is the one that is supported.

After installation, adjusting the settings is where you have to actually do some work yourself. You will have to point it to your chart collection on your phone. Try downloading a few NOAA charts to a directory on your phone. If you are like many Android users, this is the hardest part.

The Android phone is actually a computer that just happens to also be able to make phone calls. Much of the file system is hidden and not readily accessible. Install a good File Manager making it easier to access the storage on your device in a practical manner. One useful File Manager is Root Explorer. You do not need root to install or use this one, AFAIK but the Google Play store will tell you if it will install on your device.

When you download the charts, first determine where your first test charts are stored. Probably /storage/sdcard0/Download or something like that. Then create a directory for your charts, please note that the recent Android versions have restricted where users can load data. On my device /storag/emulated/0/Android/data/org.opencpn/files/charts.

Android file handling differs depending on the version. See https://github.com/OpenCPN/OpenCPN/issues/3364# also see https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/f134/opencpn-on-android-266300.html#post3814890

Android 8 Phone: O584 easily accesses “/storage/emulated/0/Download” from the “Import” dialog.

Android 11+ and above: The Download directory is not directly accessible to applications like OpenCPN. Google has implemented a policy known as “scoped storage” in Android/12 and above.

• This policy essentially “sandboxes” application access to files that it owns, only.
• System directories like “android” and “Download” are not directly accessible.
• For example, the S8 tablet will never be able to access “Download” directly.
• The work around to be able to read and write gpx files or charts, for example, is to use one of a very few file explorers (e.g. XPlore) that can access system “Download”. Also File Manager + works.
• Use this App to copy GPX files or chart files to the OpenCPN private directory tree, something like “Android/data/org.opencpn.opencpn/files/Download”. For charts you may wish to locate them in a “Chart” directory.
• Then you may read and import the GPX to OpenCPN as usual.

Once you have charts on your phone and you know where they are, you can open up OCPN and in the Settings/Charts/Chart Files menu select “Add Directory” and a file browser will open. Navigate to your charts and hit “OK”. Then you will be back in the Chart Files menu. Click “OK” again and OCPN will build the chart database and then your charts will be loaded and ready to use.

The app has a manual accessed by the question mark button. The crescent wrench is the settings button. Sometimes they disappear for some reason on my Note 3, not sure why, but they are always there when I start the app.

In your phone's settings menu, under “Location”, you may want to enable “Device Only” so that the actual GPS chip in your phone is providing location information to your phone, and not your cell phone network.

I'm not sure I get this. I have no “device only” option. When I go to location services it shows a bunch of my apps like contacts Cruiser forum, Phone, Etc and then Google location history and Sharing.

Go back to “Location” in the Settings menu. Above the list of “Recent location requests”, you will see a “Mode” setting. Underneath it will probably say “High accuracy” which works nicely sometimes, like when you are near 3 or 4 cell towers with a good bearing split. But if you click on “Mode”, you can change it to “Battery saving” or to “Device only”. Pick “Device only” for marine use.

It actually could be different depending on the Android version and phone type. On mine it's under Privacy and safety then election Location and it gives 3 choices: -Wi-Fi, Mobile data and GPS - Wi-Fi and Mobile Data - GPS

Symptom: open cpn does not see files/folders outside its sandboxed installation - It just can't navigate up beyond it's installation root folder.

What I did: 1) enabled USB debugging on the tablet 2) changed USB default connection behaviour on the tablet 3) connected the tablet to my Linux notebook (Linux Mint) via USB 4) moved the files from the “download” folder to the app's “Charts” folder. 5) rebuilt the chart database.

Dave (bdbcat) response:

You have encountered the new Android file model called “scoped storage”. This model arrived along with Android/11+, and specifies exactly which app-private folders may be used for chart storage. Previously accessible public folders (e.g. the root of an SDCard) can no longer be directly accessed. Contents must be migrated to a permitted private folder. It can be disturbing at first, but long-term provides improved app storage management and security.

The general solution is to use a fully capable file manager to manually move files/charts into the OpenCPN private folder tree. Not all generic file managers are capable of this. We recommend X-Plore, available free from the Playstore. You can read more about it at the OpenCPN for Android Forum.

Thanks Dave